From Wilusa
by Jet556
Summary: Into the Wilderness or to mysterious Gnozzuz where the Blest Thag lives. There are many routes from Wilusa. Gard and Cheetara take one, Balor and Brigid take another.
1. Out of the Gates

**Welcome, everyone. This story is going to be a bit different since it is actually two stories in one. One story focuses on Gard and Cheetara, the other focuses on Balor and Brigid. Enjoy and review.**

 **Out of the Gates**

Wilusa… For forty-five hundred years had it stood upon a hill and dominated the lands below. It was old long before Thundera's time and continued to be old even after Thundera's fall.

Gard thought nothing of Wilusa. For him it had always been there, a great monument that would always be rebuilt no matter how many times it was sacked or destroyed.

For Cheetara however, for the first time looking upon Wilusa in all its wonder and glory without being on the ThunderTank… She was still in marvel at it. She had been in marvel at it when she arrived she had been in marvel at it now that she was leaving. Arriving in the ThunderTank had never really brought Wilusa to her attention but being on foot… That was something completely different.

While Cheetara marveled at Wilusa, Gard just kept walking away from it. He breathed in the air, held out his arms and let out a laugh. The Wilderness was calling and he knew paths that Cheetara did not.

"Come, Cheetara!" He cried, his voice so wonderfully tough and grizzled. "I can find the rest of the ThunderCats even if I was blindfolded!"

Cheetara turned to look over at Gard. She did not doubt he could find them, she only wondered how long it would take for them to reach the rest of the ThunderCats.

"Gard…" She began. "How soon can we reach our destination on one of your routes?"

Gard gave a small smile. He knew many routes and they could takes as little or as much time as possible. "My dear girl, you don't know just how many routes I know about. All roads my lead to Wilusa or Thundera as the sayings go but the routes of the Wilderness outnumber all of those roads."

Cheetara did not doubt it. The Wilderness was vast and unknown to many, jealously hiding its secrets. If anyone could find the shortest route then the Evabon named Gard could.

"Lead the way then, I trust you."

"I am glad." Was all Gard said in response! He had come a long way from his days of being hostile to the cats.

()

"So where are we really going?" asked Brigid as she walked with Balor.

"To Gnozzuz." Replied Balor, the thought of seeing the Blest Thag never leaving his head.

Brigid placed a hand over her mouth. "Zuvowang told me about that place. He says that a creature named Apyz lives there."

"What is Apyz?"

"I don't know. Zuvowang didn't go into much detail about him. He merely said that Apyz has golden horns."

"Are they made of gold or are they merely colored gold?" asked Balor. He did not understand the Wilys fascination with gold. Being an Evabon he did not understand the fascination with gold. It was just something to melt down, use to make weapons or works of art.

"I don't know. He never specified." Stated Brigid.

The Blessed Thag and Apyz, Gnozzuz was starting to sound fascinating. Balor was starting to get excited. Brigid on the other hand was both excited and frightened.


	2. Secret Routes

**Welcome back, everyone. After a long absence I am back. Enjoy and review.**

 **Secret Routes**

The vast, unknown Wilderness had many routes. Crisscrossing, branching out, one could spend many lifetimes going down all the routes.

As Gard led Cheetara down one such route he thought of an adventure of his from long ago. He had been eight years old in fact he didn't look much different from Balor at that age. What reason he had gone on that adventure Gard could not remember. He only remembered how angry his grandfather had been popping off and popping back like he did. The things he had seen adults would have dismissed as merely part of a child's imagination and for a while he came to believe but when he returned to that place to see what he had and found them still there he smiled.

"Gard, you once said I remind you of your daughter." Said Cheetara.

"My daughter…" Gard smiled. "Aye, Noma was very much like you."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"I do not but if she did die then it was long ago." Said Gard. "No doubt you are Noma reborn, so alike you are in personality."

"How quick is this route, Gard?"

"Quick enough." Replied Gard. They would be at the area Cheetara had described in less time than it took Cheetara to get to Wilusa. As fast as she was, Cheetara could still tire out and long distances could put a toll on her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm still a bit tired but not as much as when I arrived at Wilusa." Answered Cheetara.

"Do you want to rest?"

"Maybe later."

"Suit yourself." Said Gard.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" asked Cheetara.

"I've lived more of your lifetimes than you can count and I've still got more endurance that you." Stated Gard. "I'm just saying you might not be able to last as long as me on a long trek."

Cheetara's eyes widened. "How quick is 'quick enough' for this route to be a long trek?"

A trek that was longer than the one Balor and Brigid were taking. They were already halfway to Gnozzuz. As they rested by a lake, Brigid splashed her feet in the water. Balor had just about walked into the lake and was up to his knees when he began to think about what Gnozzuz would be like. He only thought of the Blest Thag and this mysterious Apyz of the golden horns.

Apyz… What sort of a name was that? What sort of thing did it belong to?

And the Blest Thag… What did a thag look like? Why was the thag blest?

So many questions that he would not have answered until he and Brigid got to Gnozzuz.


	3. Eyes of the Elderly

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 **Eyes of the Elderly**

Gard might have been old and half-blind but even then he could see things that those younger than him could not. As he and Cheetara continued on their path, he asked her how WilyKat was doing on his search for that mythical lost city he was in search of.

"El Dara?" asked Cheetara. "I'm going to be honest, I'm not even sure if it exists. He is looking for it because he heard of it from a storybook."

"There might be a kernel of truth to it." Replied Gard. "The eyes of the young see something in a story as real, the eyes of the elderly see it as something turned to myth."

"And that is what you think it is?" asked Cheetara.

"I once heard a myth about a man who killed his father and married his mother." Replied Gard. "History shows us that the killing of this man's father happened after he had died by removing his father's name from the history books. El Dara might not have even been a city it could have been a mining outpost that supplied your capital with gold in the distant past."

"And if it was it might have fallen out of use after there was no more gold to send to Thundera." Mused Cheetara.

(-)

Balor and Brigid stood in awe at Gnozzuz. It was a castle of enormous size that doubled as a borough. The Blessed Thag was here and they would see it. Into the crowded castle they went, there must have been a population of eighty thousand, eighty thousand people of all kinds under the spell of the Blest Thag.

But not one of them was an Evabon.

People looked down at them. The eyes of a woman of the Nomis race falling upon Brigid. Turning to her companion, a man of the Duelist's race, she pointed to Brigid.

"Look at the nimble features of the little girl." Said the woman. "She would do beautifully as a thag dancer."

"And what of the boy?" asked the man.

"What of him? He can wander this castle for all his life." Replied the woman. "The little girl is who matters. Mamez will be interested in having an Evabon as a thag dancer."

"The thag dance begins tomorrow." Said the man. "Do you expect her to learn how to perform the thag dance in one day? It takes three months to learn to become a thag dancer."

"Being a thag dancer is easy. I myself was a prodigy who learned the art in three days."

The man only looked skeptical. "Yes but the question is, is she a prodigy?"


	4. Nineteen

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 **Nineteen**

Continuing on their route, Cheetara began to wonder. She began to wonder what it was like for Gard when he was nineteen. She wondered what it was like for Gard when he was her age. Thus she asked him.

"Nineteen?" Gard stopped in his tracks and looked at Cheetara. "That was long ago."

"Can you remember what it was like to be my age?" asked Cheetara.

"Ha, of course!" Gard gave a smile. "I remember that being a particularly good year. No battles, Procyon did not find himself in the grip of his bloodlust curse at any point, no famine no pestilence… Yes, a very good year."

"But what was it like to be my age?" asked Cheetara again.

Gard scratched his chin. That was hard for him to put. Prejudice against grey skins, running the gauntlet, going hunting for beasts that could have easily killed someone...

"It was eventful." Said Gard. "There was prejudice towards me for my skin color, I had to run the gauntlet, we went for hunting for beasts that could have easily killed us… A scar on the back of my right shoulder came from someone hitting me with a metal rod that had a hook at the end of it when it was my turn to run the gauntlet. The hunts were dangerous as always, I learned to turn the other cheek when it came to the prejudice to me over my skin."

(-)

Brigid felt a hand fall upon her shoulder. Looking up to see a Nomis woman, Brigid felt uneasy about the look in the woman's eyes.

"W-Who are you?" asked Brigid.

"Just a friend." Said the woman. "Come with me, child. Come with me and you may join the dance."

Instantly, Brigid's eyes lit up. "What dance?"

"Come with me and you shall see."

"Me and my friend should stay—"

"Come, child." The woman began to lead Brigid away. Her grip on the little girl's shoulder was firm.

The excitement in Brigid's eyes turned to fear. She turned to call out to Balor but quickly she found herself gagged with her own veil. Thus was she pulled away into one of the alleys of Gnozzuz.


	5. A Sneaking Suspicion

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 **A Sneaking Suspicion**

Gard scratched the back of his neck. He had a sneaking suspicion that someone of his bloodline was in trouble. Stopping in his tracks, Gard looked out across the landscape. Cheetara raised an eyebrow and looked upon a father figure with an expression of worry.

"What is it?" asked Cheetara.

"Might be something, might be nothing." Gard took a step in the direction of Wilusa. "Call it a father's instinct."

"Being a surrogate big sister I wouldn't know what it is like to be a parent." Commented Cheetara. "You think Balor has left Wilusa?"

"I hope not." Gard took another step. "I can't risk it, I will return as quick as possible. Just keep going to your destination and I will find you."

"But… How could you possibly find me?" inquired Cheetara.

Gard could only throw his head back and laugh. "Cheetara, I think you'd have stopped wondering long ago." And with that Gard ran in the direction of Wilusa.

Jumping into a tree, he took a faster route across a great limb. Running across it, his mind turned to long ago to the childhood of his own son Gryphon. Sneaking off during wartime to have fun with his friends. The anger born of worry Gard had felt that day was painful. In many ways Gard was a father to Balor as well, beyond Balor being descended from him. Balor's own father Pwyll was barely in his life so it fell to Gard to teach him. This anger born of worry was very much the same.

He just couldn't understand it. What was it about children not listening when their elders told a person to not leave? He remembered what Thunderan parents would say about him to their children: "Don't go into the Wilderness of Gard will get you." He wondered if any children actually listened to their parents or actually went into the Wilderness looking for him.

"You aren't his father." Lion-O had once said. "Pwyll is."

"I might as well be his father for the amount of time Pwyll is present." Returned Gard. "Balor is my descendant and I will defend him."


	6. Lib

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 **Lib**

Balor chased after the woman who had taken Brigid. He knew not where he was going, all he knew was that the woman had taken Brigid down an alley and down that alley he went.

The man of the Duelist's race, known as the Gambler, did not care for the Boy Shaman chasing after his friend that had taken the Little Beauty. He grabbed Balor by the wrist, knife in hand and then he felt a hammer come slamming against his head. Upon the hammer making contact, the Gambler let go of Balor's wrist and he fell to the ground. Once he fell, Balor saw a friend he had not seen in a long time.

Lib, once upon a time known as the Hunter, was a Nomis. He was grey skinned, his head resembling the skull of a horse and his eyes blank white. His attire was fit for royalty with a cape and a winged helmet. If one had never known Lib had once been an enemy of the Evabon, they would have thought he'd be a friend to them all his life.

"This is not Wilusa, the Wilderness or the Valley of the Tombs, Balor." Said Lib. He then gave a smile. "Tell me, my little friend, what brings you here?"

"Brigid and I wanted to see the Blest Thag." Stated Balor. "Now she's been kidnapped."

"Yes, by one of my people." Said Lib. "I saw here. Not grey like me but black as ebony! Ebony! Ebony… Sounds like bones." He gave a chuckle after realizing he had gotten distracted. "I come and go from place to place as I please but this is not a safe place for children. It is the reason I never brought my children here."

"You have children, Lib?" inquired Balor.

A melancholy expression formed upon Lib's face. "Once when I was a more innocent man, untouched by the poison of prejudice that has since been washed away."

"It was my people who were responsible for your family's death wasn't it?"

"They were Evabon but to call them 'your people' would be an insult to every good Evabon I have come to know." Stated Lib.


	7. Brigid

**Welcome back, everyone. With more free time I return completely to fan fiction writing and with the decision to make this a longer story. How long? Well, it certainly won't be ten chapters I'll say that much. Enjoy and review.**

 **Brigid**

Brigid had been dragged to the grounds of the dancers. Here did they learn to dance the most dangerous dance of them all: thag vaulting. Man and woman, boy and girl all that called themselves dancer would have to do it.

So did Brigid's training begin!

Stripped of her veil, her dress and skirt Brigid was left in the simplest pieces of her attire. She was free of anything that could have gotten caught on the horns of a thag be it a real one or a fake one used for practice. She did not want to be a dancer like this but still Brigid would dance the dance.

She was merely a child, only eight years old and this fake thag must have been as big as a real one. The bronze horns with the neck that would move when she leapt and grabbed the horns, thus would she have to let go and land behind the thag.

Fear was in her heart. Brigid knew that this was not a true thag but she knew that when it would be the real thing it would be charging at her.

Eyes were on the Little Beauty. The eyes of the Nomis woman and a man of indeterminate species that wore a thag mask watched Brigid from the sidelines of the training grounds.

"Is this what you have brought to learn the dance, Mother Akakallyz?" asked the masked man. "An Evabon girl who merely stands there before the Thag of Taitale?"

"Come now, Mamez, I thought you would be interested in having an Evabon for a thag dancer!" exclaimed Mother Akakallyz.

"I would if she actually showed herself willing to jump!" stated Mamez. "If she doesn't, I will cast her down into the maze myself."

Brigid ran towards the Thag of Taitale. The mindless thing merely stood there motionless as Brigid jumped and grabbed the horns. Then the neck moved as Brigid's weight brought it downward and like a catapult the head jolted back and the Little Beauty somersaulted in the air landing firmly on her feet behind the Thag of Taitale.

Mother Akakallyz could only smile. "Are you impressed, Mamez?"

"Indeed I am!" exclaimed Mamez, his eyes wide. "Keep her practicing, the Evabon girl dances with the Blest Thag today!"

Then did Mother Akakallyz's eyes widen! She was absolutely shocked. No thag dancer would be ready for a live thag in such a short time! "She'll die if she dances with the Blest Thag today!"

"She had better not." Mamez began to walk away. "With the Evabon being allies of the ThunderCats, who themselves have many allies, slavers and kidnappers are finding themselves less willing to enter their territory. We need some good encouragement for our own slavers and kidnappers to bring more here. If she survives, more Evabon girls will be brought here to learn the dance and I am getting bored of the usual ones we are getting. Cats, lizards, berbils, dogs, they have all gone out of fashion. We need something new and what better than these." Thus did Mamez leave that part of the castle of Gnozzuz.

Brigid had not heard a word. She had merely gone to put her skirt on. When Mother Akakallyz approached, Brigid looked at her with frightened eyes. "Y-You… You did well, my dear… Keep on practicing and you shall do well."

Keep on practicing? A good idea! If she stayed here sooner or later Balor would find her rather than trying to escape on her own and then being on the search for Balor who would be searching for her.


	8. The Caracal

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 **The Caracal**

Brigid found the other dancers to be all sorts of species. There was the odd cat, lizard, dog and berbil, there was a bird whose wings had been removed from his body so he could not escape from Gnozzuz there was even a fishwoman.

One of the cats was a strange one her own age, whom a cheetah often spoke down to. He was a reddish tan color and he almost would have looked like WilyKat had he not had long tufted ears with the tufts being black. He also had two black stripes from the forehead to the nose, a black outline of the mouth, distinctive black facial markings and white facial markings surrounding his eyes and mouth, he even had pronounced black eyebrow markings. Had WilyKat been there to see this stranger, he would have commented that he was dressed exactly how he used before the fall of Thundera.

Brigid approached the strange cat and asked him: "What kind of a cat are you?"

"I'm a caracal, Caracalla is my name." He replied. "Who and what are you?"

"I am Brigid and I am an evabon."

"You can't be! My father always said you evabon were hideous brutes that were barely more than beasts and you are kind of pretty."

"Well, I'll thank you for the compliment and say that I am an evabon."

"Were there any other evabon with you when you were brought here or were you alone when they took you?" asked Caracalla.

"I was with my best friend and arranged fiancé Balor." Replied Brigid. "He'll find me, I'm sure. He is brave and has the makings of a great shaman! He is right here in the Gnozzuz, I know he will be able to find me."

"He is here in Gnozzuz?" asked Caracalla. "You mean you were taken right off the streets?"

"Yes."

"Evabon don't live in Gnozzuz! You must have come here! Why would you come here?"

Brigid closed her eyes and she clasped her hands. "We wanted to the Blessed Thag."

Caracalla shook his head. "I hope coming here to see that old thing is worth it. You might be broken under him… I might be broken under him. Half of us might at least be broken under him but that is years away for people as young as us."

"Why does that cheetah speak down to you?" inquired Brigid.

"I'm a caracal." Answered Caracalla.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Servals and we caracals never get as much recognition as cheetahs." Stated Caracalla. "It is just how it is. My father said that we shall never get as much recognition as cheetahs and that is as it has been since the dawn of time and until the world crashes just as evabon shall always be the enemies of all the world."

"Do you really believe that?"

"My father said evabon were hideous brutes but you aren't… I just don't know."


	9. The Maze

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 **The Maze**

After her conversation with Caracalla, Brigid as the caracal something she had heard the other dancers speak of. "What is the maze?"

"The vast labyrinth that is beneath Gnozzuz." Stated Caracalla with a fearful tone to his voice. "No one that has ever been thrown down into it has ever found the way out."

Brigid looked to the side for a moment. A guard of the grounds of the dancers had a shield with a maze on it. No doubt it was the one the other dancers spoke of. "What is down there?"

"Besides the junk that gets tossed down there by people who find openings?" asked Caracalla. "I don't know. Some of the older dancers say that there is a monster down there but the most I've ever seen are the tentacles of the Aktynyarya that grow on the walls down there."

"Aktynyarya?" asked Brigid.

"You don't know what Aktynyarya are?"

"No."

"Oh." Carcalla scratched the back of his neck. "They are plants, I think, that eat people. Once I saw a guard beat up a dancer so bad that when he was done he left her body near the opening on the grounds here and I saw the tentacle of one of the Aktynarya pull it down."

"That is dreadful!" exclaimed Brigid. She leaned back against the wall of the grounds of the dancers, wishing for nothing more but Balor to rescue her. That an eight-year-old apprentice shaman could do anything against such fearsome guards would seem a foolish thought but still she had hope that if anyone her arranged fiancé would be able to. "Oh, Balor! Balor! Where are you?"

"You sound so corny right now." Snickered Caracalla.

"Corny? I'm afraid what might happen to me if—" Brigid did not get any farther. A guard, a brutish fellow that looked like a Labinnac with neither ears nor neck, approached and grabbed Caracalla by the arm and dragged him away. "Where are you taking him?"

"I want to see if cats really do land on their feet!" croaked the guard, his voice harsh. Caracalla was quick to bite the hand of the guard who let go in pain and exclaimed: "You little brat! Get back here!" Caracalla ran from the guard, he had only one choice and that was to run out of the grounds of the dancers. Once he had gotten away, the guard turned his attention to the one that Caracalla had been in the company of. "If I can't see if cats really do land on their feet, then I'll see just how much abuse an Evabon can take!"

Brigid trembled in terror as the guard raised his club when Mother Akakallyz's voice ran out. "Do not touch her!"

The Labinnac with neither ears nor neck shrank away from Brigid and turned to face the ebony Nomis. "Mother Akakallyz, I…"

"This girl is the first Evabon thag dancer we have ever had. She is a privileged dancer, if you ever strike her it will be your death." Mother Akakallyz glared at the Labinnac who immediately backed down. She then turned her attention to Brigid. "Come, child, let us prepare you."

"P-Prepare me?" asked Brigid nervously. "Prepare me for what?"

"For your dance with the Blest Thag, my dear."


	10. Preparation

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 **Preparation**

Brigid was first given "courtly habiliments." She had been presented an outfit not too different from the one she usually wore but lacking a skirt. It was blue in color, the color associated with death in Evabon culture but Brigid took little notice of that. She had thought that the "courtly habiliments" she would be given would be more than what she had usually wore. The material it was made of was unusually common as well she would have thought it would have been something less common.

After Brigid had changed into her "courtly habiliments", an arm ring was put on each of her arms and an anklet on each of her ankles. They were made of solid gold. Brigid did not understand the fascination with gold some people had. Being an Evabon it was only natural. To the Evabon things like gold and jewels were not treasure. They were things to make treasure, things that in ages past great Evabon heroes and chieftains would have been buried with: a sword, a helmet, things like that.

After the arm rings and ankles, Brigid found her skin being covered in blue chalk the same shade as her "courtly habiliments." When that was done, her hair was then dyed a brilliant blue. When Brigid was given a moment to look at herself in a mirror she could not believe how she looked. In her opinion she looked rather silly.

This was how she was to look when she danced with the Blest Thag? Why would any girl wish to be a thag dancer if this was how she would have to look when she danced with one?


	11. The Blest Thag

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 **The Blest Thag**

A thag was a creature with a dog-like head back legs that resembled those of a caterpillar and bull-like horns. The rest of the body was rather non-descript with the front legs ending in cat-like claws.

In the arena, little Brigid stood. Dressed in a blue two-piece outfit, blue chalk covering her grey skin and golden arm-rings and anklets she felt silly looking. The jeers of the crowd, calling her "barbarian brat" because she was an Evabon hurt more than she could have possibly imagined.

And then the Blest Thag was released.

The jeers stopped and Brigid felt positively horrified as she looked at the Blest Thag. It was gigantic, it must have been… There was no time for that. She had to stay brave. The look of horror was replaced with a look of cold determination.

For a moment the Blest Thag just stood there with its red eyes upon Brigid. The moment then ended as the beast lowered its head and charged.

Still with a look of cold determination, Brigid ran forward. When she and the Blest Thag were only three apart she leapt forward with hands outstretched and grabbed hold of the beast's horns. Immediately, the Blest Thag stopped and shook its head back to shake off the "barbarian brat" and Brigid then let go and somersaulted through the air until she landed perfectly on her feet.

The crowd then erupted into cheers. Cries of "Hail to the Evabon Princess!" and "Make her the sole thag dancer!" The crowd was fickle but that fickleness was completely lost on Brigid as she gave a bow to the crowd, their approval, their clapping and their cheers making her feel like the most important person in the world.

The Nomis, Mother Akakallyz, looked over to Mamez, the man of indeterminate species wearing a thag mask. "What think you, Mamez?" she asked.

"Her ability impresses me." Replied Mamez. "But the crowd calling for this little girl to be named the sole thag dancer does not sit well with me. I had hoped for more Evabon girls to be brought here to learn the dance when she impressed the crowd not for one to replace all of the thag dancers."

"Then what do we do?" asked Mother Akakallyz.

"I don't know…" Mamez tapped his fingers against the arms of his chair. "I must talk with the priests. The King of Gnozzuz making a decision without them is it not them who decide who shall be king?"


	12. Hail to the Thag Dancer!

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 **Hail to the Thag Dancer!**

The King of Gnozzuz did not make a decision without the Priests of Gnozzuz for it was they that chose the monarch. Mamez could not name Brigid the sole thag dancer without them but the people already were. All Brigid could hear was "Hail to the Thag Dancer!" and "Make her the only thag dancer!" as she was carried through the streets of Gnozzuz on a palanquin, flowers being thrown at her by her cheering public.

From the nearby palace, which also served as Gnozzuz's temple, Mamez and the Priests of Gnozzuz looked down at the spectacle approaching the central part of the city. "Priests of Gnozzuz, what must we do?" Mamez asked, never once looking away from the spectacle. His own mask was made from a different material than those of the priests but it was the high priest alone whose mask was of a completely different material from the other priests'. All of them, thag mask wearing individuals, stared down at the sight and again Mamez asked: "Priests of Gnozzuz, what must we do? Even now this little girl could be made one of equal power to us! No, worse she might topple us!"

You are panicking, Mamez." Said High Priest Kolyn.

"I have a right to! The rabble wants her to be the only thag dancer, how long until they start calling her the 'Thag Priestess' or the 'Thag Queen?'"

"She is a child."

"A child can be made a puppet ruler and when she grows she could turn ambitious and actually desire to be such things."

"I still say you panic, Mamez." Kolyn looked down at the scene playing out below them. "Preventing a rebellion is in our best interest. It is through the Blest Thags that we have kept control of the populace for so long. They worship them and they obey us. You say she could be a puppet and she could be: ours. You are the Thag King, Mamez. We are the Thag Priests. She alone as the Thag Dancer can be our puppet. A whole bunch of thag dancers is too much but one… Ah, now there is the idea."

"You can't be serious…" Mamez's voice was filled with anger. "I will not make a child a puppet!"

"Then we will have to remove you, Mamez, and select a new monarch. Perhaps the girl would enjoy being our puppet as long as she can jump the Blest Thag and get the adoration of the rabble?"

Kolyn's comment was enough to cow Mamez and so did the king say: "Very well… Our puppet the girl shall be. Hail to the Thag Dancer!"


	13. Temptation

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 **Temptation**

Mamez sat upon his throne, each priests on either side of him. In the throne room, Brigid suddenly felt nervous as she saw these figures wearing masks in the likeness of a thag's head. Before his Majesty, Brigid felt underdressed in her "courtly habiliments" but thought that he usual set of clothes would have been even more a case of her being underdressed.

"What is your name, Thag Dancer?" inquired Mamez as he sat upon his throne. The amount of horns on the throne was absurd Brigid couldn't believe such a thing had been made.

"B-Brigid."

She was nervous. Mamez paused and looked at the priests. High Priest Kolyn was looking at him just as they all were. In Mamez' own mind, Brigid would never trust him if he was a faceless man wearing a mask. Mamez moved his hands to remove his thag mask only for Kolyn to place a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you doing, Mamez?" hissed Kolyn in a hushed tone.

"If this is to work she must trust us." Answered Mamez.

"The King must not remove his mask in public." Whispered Kolyn.

Mamez looked around. The throne room was filled with people all of them save for Brigid to the sides. She alone was in the center of the room.

"I will do as I see fit, Kolyn." Mamez removed his mask, revealing an appearance that looked like that of an Evabon but Brigid had difficulty believing he was one due to his scaly green, fish-like skin, his large eyes and the catfish-like whiskers that were in the place of a mustache. Brigid had heard of the fishmen who lived in the Sand Sea and Mamez looked as if he could have been a hybrid. Mamez looked upon the little girl and said: "We have never had a full-blooded Evabon as a thag dancer before, we have never had anyone with Evabon blood as a thag dancer before."

"Make her the only thag dancer!"

Mamez looked to the crowd to see who had said that. He knew not who it was so he returned his attention to Brigid. "My dear, the people wish for you to be the sole thag dancer. We will make you so and you shall be the favorite of Gnozzuz! Will you accept our offer? If you do all of Gnozzuz will be at your feet, you be loved, worshipped, the most famous person in the city."

Brigid brought her hands to her cheeks. Her eyes were wide and there was a huge smile upon her countenance. To be something other than just one of the Zuvowangidae was all she could have hoped for! Back in Wilusa she was only known as a member of her family while Balor was known as Piyamaradu's apprentice in addition to a Gardite. She wanted to be special too and now here was her chance!

Balor…

Brigid lowered her hands and the smile quickly vanished. Would she ever be able to see him again? Where was he now? Was he safe? Her heart was now pounding in her chest with worry.

Kolyn leaned in and whispered into Mamez's ear saying: "Get Mother Akakallyz! She will be able to wipe away any second thoughts the girl is having!"

"You get her!" hissed Mamez.

"You made her an offer and now you tell me, the High Priest of Gnozzuz, to fetch the caretaker of the thag dancers myself?"

"Yes, now shut up." Mamez returned his attention to Brigid and asked: "Something the matter, Little Brigid?"

"I… I don't know if I can stay here and be your only thag dancer." Brigid said. "Your Majesty, thank you for the offer but I have to find my best friend Balor and go home to Wilusa."

Mamez nodded and looked to the people gathered in the throne room. "Who here will deny Brigid the right to find her friend and go home?"

Answers of "I won't" and "Not I" rang through the room only for Kolyn to bring his staff down upon the floor and exclaim: "She shall not leave! No thag dancer leaves Gnozzuz alive of their own free will!" He then looked down at Mamez and said: "As for you, Mamez! You have been undermining us for far too long!"

"Kolyn, I have never done such a thing. I have merely had a change of heart. It would be wrong to make a puppet of a child and it would be wrong to keep her here against her will. I do believe we need a new way to get thag dancers that does not involve buying them from slavers or getting them from kidnappers."

"And what prompted this change of heart, Mamez?"

"It is quite simple, Kolyn. Today I met a thag dancer and she was a little girl named Brigid."

"You talk like a fool!"

"No, I talk like someone who has found his benevolence." Mamez looked once more to Brigid and said: "My dear, you may return to Wilusa." Then to the people gathered in the throne room: "Friends, bring her back to the grounds of the dancers, let her have a bath to get that chalk washed off her and so she might get her own clothes put on and find her friend Balor and have him brought to her so they might return home together."

Kolyn drew and knife and then plunged it into Mamez's chest. For a moment, Mamez look surprised only to smile and look at Kolyn defiantly before dying. With him dead, Kolyn looked to the shocked Brigid and audience.

"No thag dancer leaves Gnozzuz alive of their own free will!" he roared. "Guards!" The Guards of Gnozzuz all entered the room, armed to the teeth with spear, axe, sword and dagger. "Take this Evabon brat, keep her imprisoned in the grounds of the dancers and kill all of these peasants who would let her leave!"


	14. The Heroes Arrive

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 **The Heroes Arrive**

The guards were about to take Brigid away and begin their massacre of the common people when Lib arrived with Balor and Caracalla. Kolyn, High Priest of Gnozzuz stared at them and said: "What is this? A would-be hero and two brats?"

With his hammer in hand, Lib quickly brought it slamming into the head of one guard who quickly went flying into another. He stared at Kolyn, thag-masked priest, and said: "Who are you calling 'would-be?'"

Balor did not give a verbal response. He merely looked at the torches around the throne room and thus did he raise a hand and bring the fire from the torches and onto the sleeves of at five of the guards. His training with Piyamaradu was paying off.

And Caracalla? He merely stood there and shrugged. Lib was a warrior Balor was a shaman-in-training and he? He hadn't really been anyone special and the most he had been taught was thag dancing and that was something he simply couldn't use here.

Kolyn merely stood there counting the guards. A few of them were now looking cautious and even more were now turning to leave the throne room altogether. He brought his staff down upon the floor and exclaimed: "Death to any guards who disobey me! You will stay and kill all but the Evabon girl! Do you hear me? You will kill—" Kolyn did not get any further. Into the throne room came an axe, flying through the air between Lib and another guard and it hit Kolyn in the chest and embedding itself in it, sending him flying back until he hit the back wall of the throne room.

Then did Gard enter the throne room! He looked down at Balor and said: "You are forbidden from leaving Wilusa for a whole month for this." Balor did not give a verbal response. He only nodded, knowing with all his heart he was the one responsible for this situation. Gard then looked at all present and said: "I am Gard! I am a great warrior. Challenge me and my brother-in-arms Lib at your own peril."

The other priests all stepped forward and raised their staffs, all decorated with the head of thag. The eyes of the heads began to glow until roots emerged from the throne room floor and wrapped themselves around the priests, crushing them until the priests dropped their staffs.

Gard turned to see Cheetara standing in the doorway, her own staff in hand. She smiled at Gard and say: "You said I remind you of your daughter? Well, she must have been a disobedient child."


	15. An Ending

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 **An Ending**

Gard stared at Balor. He and Brigid were safe but Gard was very disappointed in the two. Outside of Gnozzuz, the Old Savage stared at the Boy Shaman who was his descendant. Sitting on a rock while Balor sat on the ground, Gard said nothing. From a distance Cheetara, Lib, Brigid and Caracalla all watched. Balor was sitting on his knees, his eyes to the ground while Gard stared at him.

"What compelled you to come here, Balor?" Gard asked. His voice was without emotion and it was that which made it difficult to know what he was feeling besides disappointment.

"Curiousness." Balor answered, still not looking Gard in the eye. "I wanted to see the Blessed Thag."

"And now you have learned the price curiousness can sometimes bring." Gard stated. "Your punishment will be shortened. You are forbidden from leaving Wilusa for half a month."

"Thank you, Gard." Balor said, looking the Old Savage in the eye at last. There were no tears coming from his eyes but he still looked frightened.

"You need not fear me, Balor." Gard said, standing up. "I will treat you as you should be treated, punish you as you should be and praise you as you should be."

"What about Brigid?" Balor asked, standing up as well.

"Her punishment is for Zuvowang to decide. Knowing him she will probably be forbidden for leaving Wilusa for a month, no shortening of it."

Balor looked down, the grass was green, the day was bright and sunny but he felt terrible. After all that had happened today it was only natural.

Gard approached the others and put a hand on Cheetara's shoulder and looked at Caracalla. Carcalla nodded and joined Cheetara and Gard on their way to the ThunderCats.

Lib escorted Balor and Brigid back to Wilusa and after that Balor remained in Wilusa for half a month. Brigid on the other hand was met with a harsher punishment from Zuvowang, in a manner of speaking. He not only forbid her from leaving Wilusa for half a month but he forbid her from ever dancing again.

"But Zuvowang—"

"My decision is final." Zuvowang said, standing on the north wall of Wilusa with Brigid. "I forbid you from ever dancing again."

"But I just want to be special!" Brigid exclaimed. "Kat and Kit are on a quest, Balor is the apprentice to Piyamaradu, I just want to be special like they are!"

"You are special, Brigid." Zuvowang said. "You just need to find your place in the world and I'd prefer it be by doing something that does not include the possibility of you being trampled."

 **The End**


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